Our plans were to get up early and hike before it got too hot. But we decided to enjoy our coffee and hot chocolate outside first. Then we walked around the camp loop, and got into a discussion with a couple (who were tent camping here. We told them we were impressed, and about an hour later we finally returned to Howie for breakfast. So we got a later start on our hike than we wanted to.
The fake lighthouse...
We hiked along a trail that leads to a natural rock formation called the Lighthouse. When we first started out, we thought maybe this first picture was the lighthouse. No, a sign informed us it is just a hoodoo, which is a formation left when erosion has done its job.
The real lighthouse
A mile or so further down the trail, we turned a corner and got a glimpse of the real lighthouse formation. The trail was a relatively easy one for the first 2.5 miles, and we knew it would get steep and harder the last half mile. So, we just didn’t go that far! Five miles in the sun and heat was quite enough for Judy. Harris thrives in the sun, Judy melts. How in the world did these 2 get together? And, after 37 years, how much longer can it last? Judy was more than ready to return to the air conditioned comfort Howie provides!
A buzzard checking out the cliffs
Our afternoon reading room
The view from our reading room
We also spent time this afternoon talking with 2 couples who pulled into the sites next to us. They are camping in pop up vans, larger than Candy and Rick’s Goldie, and equipped with large tires and four wheel drive for off roading. One couple was from Mississippi, one from Colorado, and they were meeting each other here.
Harris cooked salmon burgers for dinner. Delicious! Then we took a short bike ride to a spot across the street that is a little higher and gives us a good place to take sunset pictures. Joe and Jennifer, the couple who had been tent camping, had moved into one of the little stone cabins that the park rents out. They said the wind rocked their tent all night and they couldn’t sleep. We enjoyed visiting with them (hearing about writing westerns and panning for gold (www.campfireshadows.com)and watching the buzzards flock in the sky readying to roost in the trees for the night. Tomorrow we head into New Mexico.
Joe and Jennifer, former tent people
The buzzards gathering at sunset
And roosting in the tree
Time to call it a night
Total miles driven today= zero
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